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TECH NEWS
Garmin to launch Edge 1000 bike computer
Garmin has announced a new top-line bike computer, the Edge 1000, that looks to be aimed at taking segment-based timed riding away from Strava and on to Garmin’s own website, Garmin Connect.
As well as the features focused on achieving fast segment times, the Edge 1000 offers bike-specific navigation and mapping capabilities and the ability to display your current gear if you run a Shimano Di2 electronic shift system with D-Fly Data Management.
“The Edge 1000 combines the essential legacy features cyclists love from the Edge Touring and Edge 810, with exciting new features including a large high-resolution colour touch screen display, advanced smartphone connectivity, and challenging segment features,” said Andrew Silver, Garmin Product Manager.
Okay, that’s a lot of information. Let’s start at the beginning…
“Whether riding for a personal best or seeing where they stack up against the pros, Edge 1000 will help cyclists reach their goals with advanced segment capabilities including the ability to view start and finish point alerts, race themselves or the segment leader, and plan rides using segments,” according to Garmin.
Planning rides using segments on Garmin Connect will not be available immediately but will be added through future software updates. Garmin don’t say exactly when this will happen. The small print actually says that ‘no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed’, although Garmin clearly see it as a central feature of this release.
There will be segment leaderboards and you'll be able to ride against a Virtual Partner that automatically synchs with your previous best or the overall segment leader. In other words, the Edge 1000 will tell you how you're doing against the best time – either your own best time or that of the fastest rider over the segment. You can compete in real time and receive notifications before, during and after you’ve ridden the segment.
What’s just as interesting as what Garmin say, is what it doesn’t say. There’s no reference to Strava. The Edge 1000’s segment features are not compatible with Strava segments, just those on Garmin Connect.
According to Garmin, once a user creates a segment on Garmin Connect, it will use the existing users’ activities to populate a leaderboard – so it’ll be a lot like Strava, but not Strava. That sounds like a statement of intent from Garmin that they’re going after Strava traffic.
The Edge 1000 also offers many features already available on other Garmin Edge bike computers, such as bike-specific navigation and mapping capabilities, instant uploads to social media and live tracking, which allows your family and friends to follow your progress online in real time if you use a smartphone alongside the computer. You can upload and download data to/from Garmin Connect while you’re on the go.
The Edge 1000, like the Edge Touring, comes preloaded with maps and points of interest, including parks and trails. You can use it like a car GPS to get turn-by-turn directions to a destination, and if you have a particular ride distance in mind you can ask the computer to suggest up to three bike-friendly routes.
The display is similar to that of the existing Edge 810 and 510 computers. It is a 3in high-resolution colour touchscreen, and you can customise the pages to show the information you want. It has an ambient light sensor for riding at night and through areas of changing light.
Interestingly, a future software update (again, there’s no timescale on it) will make the display dual orientation – so you’ll be able to read it vertically (a tall, narrow screen), as normal, or horizontally, giving you a low, wide screen.
The Edge 1000 is compatible with ANT+ sensors so you can partner it with a heart rate monitor strap, for instance, or Garmin’s new speed and cadence sensors. The self-calibrating bike speed sensor tracks speed and distance if GPS isn’t available. There are no magnets to line up so it should be simple to switch these sensors between bikes.
It’ll work with ANT+ power meters like Garmin’s own Vector system too. The Edge 1000 comes with a preloaded power-based workout that will calculate your functional threshold power (FTP). You can use this as the basis for power training zones.
The Edge 1000 also becomes the first Garmin bike computer to be compatible with Shimano’s Di2 electronic shift systems with Shimano’s D-Fly Data Management function. This means you can have your current gear displayed on the screen (the second-bottom line in the picture below) along with the battery level.
If you have an iPhone 4s or later, you can get incoming call and text message alerts on the Edge 1000, and it’ll work with the new Edge Remote too. This is a lightweight remote control that allows you to control the computer without moving your hands from the handlebar. We imagine this is going to be popular with time trialists, for example, who don’t want to shift out of their aero position.
Garmin says that the Edge 1000 has a battery life of up to 15 hours and it will be available from the first week of May at £439. A bundle including Garmin’s HRM3 heart rate monitor and new speed/cadence sensors will be £499.
For more info go to www.garmin.com.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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47 comments
Hmmm.
If Google Project Ara works out and is usable, it will probably be game over for rip off stuff like Garmins, because we may soon be able to build a small device as easily as building a PC!
Has anyone else noticed how little sense the example data screen makes (image 11/12)? To travel at 34.8 km/h at a cadence of 87 rev/min you need to push a ratio equivalent to approximately 50x16 on a 700c28 wheel, which is completely inconsistent with the gear indication. The discrepancy can't be resolved by the suggestion that the rider is coasting, because there is a power output of over 300 W.
Having bought the Garmin Touring I won't be wasting my money on this or any other Garmin bike* device again.
No instructions on how to operate it, other than very basic stuff.
No battery life longer than 8hrs (forget the 17hrs they claim).
The unit has to be returned to the maker when the battery life gets too short for a single day's ride Which probably won't be too long now.
It freezes from time to time and has to be shut down and restarted.
And more.
* I was so impressed with the Garmin car Satnav, I assumed the bike one would be as good - big disappointment.
Sad to hear that your experience with the 810 is not great. I think you might be paying the price for getting their most complicated device -- they're still ironing out the wrinkles, I guess. Fingers crossed for firmware updates to fix the most serious problems -- they do release them every so often.
I liked the look of the 810, especially for navigation -- not having to worry about getting lost on long rides would be great -- but in the end I went for the 500 (and used the extra cash to also get a replacement for my old Forerunner that died). I like the fact that the 500 is so small and rugged, and that the interface/software is the same as so many Garmin GPS units since as long as I've been using them -- that basic stuff is bullet proof. I've only had it 3 months, but I've logged 1500 miles or so and it's proving perfect for me. The 200 would have been fine I suspect, but for the annoying lack of HRM support...
Garmin seem to struggle when they start trying to get fancy. Garmin Conect is a case in point -- Strava's website is just so vastly better. Also, I find that my Garmin devices only last about a year before they give up the ghost, but I ride to and from work every day, in all weather, and I run 2 or 3 times a week, so I guess I get my use out of them.
Damn these companies giving us more choice!
If I'd just bought an Edge 810 I'd be one very unhappy bunny. My 800 will do me for a while yet I think.
This is good, should bring down the cost of the other Garmin kit, and make it reachable for me....
A smartphone could do that stuff. Just add a USB-connected interface to read Di2 data and any ANT connections.
Seems like lots of money for very little.
"Just add a USB-connected interface to read Di2 data and any ANT connections."
"Just" is a very little word for what would be an awful lot of work
£439 is ridiculous. My mobile phone (Moto G) cost just £99 and does everything a Garmin can do - it just doesn't mount particularly nicely, it's not waterproof and the battery life is about half that of a dedicated unit. For those reasons, I have an Edge 800, but boy does my el-cheapo mobile dump on it from a height when it comes to usability, features and screen res.
I'm just nipping off to search Kickstarter for an Android-powered bike computer.
for the best-informed reviews on this and most other athletic electronics, DC Rainmaker is the site to check out. On all the electronics I've owned or considered owning, I've never had reason to disagree with what he says:
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/04/garmin-edge-1000.html
It will be easy to put Strava Segments on this device, the data will be stored in files on the device, we can already extract segment data from Strava, so its just a case of working out the file structure within the Garmin and adding in the Segment data.
RideWithGPS, MapMyRide already do this to load routes, there is no reason why Strava themselves can't do the same, they have routing now, its only a matter of time before they also upload to the devices (maybe they can, I've not checked for a while)
However for me this is horrible ! rides are already wrecked by segment hunters, now they will know every damn segment on the route, it will just spoil the ride even more.
If I worked for Strava I'd be getting in bed with Wahoo to help them iron out problems with the Rflkt (such as it dropping connections to sensors / phone) and getting live segment notifications etc added to this set up.
I have a Garmin 800 and love it, but since we're all riding around with smartphones in our jerseys anyway a device like the Rflkt really does make more sense on so many levels.
Except if you're racing where a phone isn't needed, or want your phone battery to not run out 4 hours into a ride.
In my experience, Bluetooth 4.0 is just unreliable as a technology - Wahoo are up against it to make it work reliably. I have the Wahoo Bluetooth HRM and S/C sensors and they've never worked reliably on the iPhone - in any app. All kinds of trickery was required, including restarting the iPhone, force closing and restarting apps (sometimes multiple times) until it picked up both sensors. Sometimes I even had to take the batteries out of the sensors and short the terminals inside to force them to reset.
It's not just me - the reviews on Amazon are full of people with similar complaints, except most people just return the product, instead of geeking out and working the problems.
Contrast that to my Ant+ HRM and S/C sensor which "just works" every time with my EDGE 800 and Samsung S4. I can even record data from the sensors on both the Garmin and phone at the same time, which is impossible with Bluetooth sensors.
Actually one worry on this device - how much larger is the screen? The device looks larger than the 810, but seems to have a very large black frame around the screen - hardly maximising the potantential. Almost looks like it is an 810 screen stuck in a bigger box?
Just read the garmin website- the screen is a bit bigger (1cm) but the pixel count is up by a 40% (400 pixels on longest side verses 240 on the 810).
One interesting thing is its ability to use the Russian GPS network as well as GPS. This should make it far more accurate in mountain and tall city-scapes
I thought nearly all smartphone GPS chips could do GLONASS now too? Something to do with Russia putting a massive import tax on any hardware that didn't support GLONASS, iirc.
Yes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smartphones_using_GLONASS_Navigation - nearly every phone is on there!
I suspect it won't take much for Garmin Connect to import Strava segments and leaderboards? Given both Strava and garmin connect need export and import facilities, it won't take much for a third party to write something that extracts the top ten rides from a series of their local Strava segments and pops them into Garmin connect..... It would then kind of be like a video cassette that fitted both VHS and Betamax players? As long as they kept sync'd smartphone users can use Strava and Garmin users on GC with both seeing the same leaderboards
(Frankly a small bit of software to synchronise Garmin connect, Strava, and RideWithGPS would be very welcome!)
garmin have twigged that there really is no upper price for cycling gear.
Frankly my wee 200 does everything I need, these big ones don't tempt me at all. Last thing I need is a smart phone on my bars.
100% agree.
Me too. Also don't wish to take or make phone calls/texts/emails when on a bike ride. Unless I stop for cake and check the phone. Usually have no signal anyway on a decent bike ride in Northumberland!
I like my 200 and it does everything I need. I use garmin connect to plan some routes and upload them no problem. Quite easy to follow on the breadcrumb trail
They could run into trouble on this. The thing about Strava and its segments is that it's usable by anyone with a smartphone. They don't need a multi-pound Garmin device. While, for long rides, there isn't a substitute for a dedicated piece of kit, for commuters or casual cyclists a smartphone is fine. Hell, my son has used my phone to log a 100+ mile ride before he got his Garmin.
Garmin's advantages over a phone based solution were: robust, waterproof, good battery life, compatibility with ANT+ stuff. I'm not sure that trying to compete with Strava is a fantastic idea.
This is what I hoped the 810 was gonna be when they announced it as the replacement for the 800. That price is insane - you can buy an iPhone without contract for that kind of cash.
I am still hoping Strava step into the hardware game, this hardware is great but I want Strava on the bars, not Garmin Connect.
Charging more than the already very expensive Edge 800 is mental, especially when you can get the 510 for $160 in the US right now.
I noticed I forgot to link the 30 second battery
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26934932
"The nano-dots are described by StoreDot as "stable, robust spheres" that are 2.1 nanometers in diameter and made up of peptide molecules."
I knew it...
Why isn't there a little more outcry over the pricing of the Garmin 1000? I mean the thing is as much as an iPhone and sure doesn't have the same processing power. I get the point of a dedicated cycling computer but the prices need to come WAY down
Instead of 'messing' about introducing yet another device that nobody really needs (as opposed to wants), I just wish they'd get a grip and sort out the ongoing software issues with Garmin Connect & Garmin Express!
Garmin tried to launch a smartphone a few years back.
http://www.letsgodigital.org/images/artikelen/646/garmin-smartphone.jpg
Way back in my early work days I was involved with CGI production when it was all Silicon Graphics workstations. Their sales people apparently used to say that they never wanted to find themselves unable to offer a product for the customer who couldn't resist paying even more.
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